3.0 Duramax cranks but won’t start

fireaxxe · August 17, 2021

11 hours ago, V8Chevy said:

I experienced this for the 1st time last week. 2021 Sierra Denali with ~2,000 miles. Mine started fine early in the morning ~6:00 AM and ran fine on my drive to work. It sat at work all day and did it to me when I was leaving work around 4:00 PM.

Perhaps I missed it, but has anyone actually experienced it during a start stop event?

Trying to brainstorm this a bit, but it seems like the issue would have to be tied to the ECM not giving the OK to feed fuel to the cylinders. I say this because the engine is getting air (no clogged air filter) and it doesn't have an ignition system (no spark plugs) to worry about so it really points to a lack of fuel to start the engine. A sensor or condition must be telling the ECM to not distribute fuel to the injectors for some reason. For example, on my GM gas cars, the engine will not start if I mash the gas pedal to full throttle while trying to start the engine as I do this intentionally to prime my oil pump on the first start after changing the oil and filter. My 3.0 no start issue seemed very similar except that I did not have my foot touching the throttle pedal. It's probably something simple causing it...

It definitely is fuel related. Compression heat is purely mechanical. I agree that it is also electrical but not a hard electrical fault. There may be some type of signal issue. I would think that if it was a fault there would be some kind of information stored and possibly a CEL. It’s acting as if there is a fuel kill function being activated or going into anti-theft mode. This is why I am suspecting the key fob since it runs everything.

Camille · August 17, 2021

On 8/4/2021 at 11:04 AM, Camille said:

This has happened to me twice now, first time around 4200 miles, second around 6500 miles. I have a GMC Sierra 1500, going on one week at the dealership. They spoke with GM Engineering & just asked me today if they can drive it until it acts up for them. They're putting a sensor from engineering on it to monitor things like fuel pressure, a/f ratios, and more. They're going to keep it until it does it again... hopefully it wont take 2k miles.

They were able to catch my truck cranking no start with the sensor on it & agreed it was the same part as what's been stated that needs replaced - to quote the dealership "So after discussing your vehicle with the technician that had been in contact with the field engineer. They said that the camshaft solenoid valve were coming in contact or getting too close to the reluctor gear. So they had us install a shim in the camshaft actuator and that has resolved others with the same issue. " hopefully this does in fact fix it

moobaru · August 17, 2021

1 minute ago, Camille said:

They were able to catch my truck cranking no start with the sensor on it & agreed it was the same part as what's been stated that needs replaced - to quote the dealership "So after discussing your vehicle with the technician that had been in contact with the field engineer. They said that the camshaft solenoid valve were coming in contact or getting too close to the reluctor gear. So they had us install a shim in the camshaft actuator and that has resolved others with the same issue. " hopefully this does in fact fix it

Now we just have to wait X number of days/weeks/months to see if it happens again!

Camille · August 17, 2021

1 minute ago, moobaru said:

Now we just have to wait X number of days/weeks/months to see if it happens again!

Agreed - mine would NOT start on second attempt and would crank no start for up to 5x (that's as many times as i'd try it before the battery warned me it was almost dead) but hopefully this will fix it all the same.

moobaru · August 17, 2021

I'm not sure how closely related the issue Subaru had back around '13 (I'm not a mechanic, and I don't play one on TV), but this service bulletin talks about a extended crank and/or no start along with other items. They seemed to fix it with a shim too, so hopefully they are right about the shim.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10052498-5734.pdf

latreille89 · August 17, 2021

2nd time just happened. First at 1312km - morning start up, 2nd at 1728km - Just parked for about 10min at a store. Started on the 2nd try no problems. Just extremely upset with this entire situation. Can't believe they may need to do open heart surgery on a brand new 61k truck. Need to go on a 1000km trek in a few weeks so no way I'm giving my truck to GM to tear apart just yet.

Edited August 17, 2021 by latreille89

Joe Brooks · August 18, 2021

How much work was this shim to add. I am hoping they did not have to remove the cab. Man that would be awesome if that was the fix.

Ugh. Just reread far enough back that your truck has been in the shop for a while. Maybe the cab did have to come off?

Edited August 18, 2021 by Joe Brooks

jbramble24 · August 18, 2021

I've had this happen to me twice since I got my Sierra on June 2. Once at around 1200 miles and recently again at around 3200 miles. Both times the engine was hot/driven for 20 or so minutes and then parked for 20 or so minutes. Fired right up on the second try. I did mention it in the survey that GM sends out.

I'm going to try to install the shim myself as soon as I can get a hold of one. I love this truck but I am not thrilled about going to dealer service for anything after getting the runaround on noisy leaf springs.

GJR1212 · August 18, 2021

4 hours ago, jbramble24 said:

I've had this happen to me twice since I got my Sierra on June 2. Once at around 1200 miles and recently again at around 3200 miles. Both times the engine was hot/driven for 20 or so minutes and then parked for 20 or so minutes. Fired right up on the second try. I did mention it in the survey that GM sends out.

I'm going to try to install the shim myself as soon as I can get a hold of one. I love this truck but I am not thrilled about going to dealer service for anything after getting the runaround on noisy leaf springs.

Please let us know if you are able to add the shim and how you did it, ie directly removed the valve cover or pulled the cab, etc.

Camille · August 18, 2021

19 hours ago, Joe Brooks said:

How much work was this shim to add. I am hoping they did not have to remove the cab. Man that would be awesome if that was the fix.

Ugh. Just reread far enough back that your truck has been in the shop for a while. Maybe the cab did have to come off?

I'm not sure what all they did to get the shim in place but they did not remove the cab. The shim was supposed to arrive at some point on Monday and was ready by Tuesday afternoon.

The whole time my truck was at the dealership they were driving with it as if it was their own (put over 800 miles on it) to try to get it to act up.. It did finally act up for them last week & they were able to record it and agreed the best course of action was to add the shim.

latreille89 · August 18, 2021

50 minutes ago, Camille said:

I'm not sure what all they did to get the shim in place but they did not remove the cab. The shim was supposed to arrive at some point on Monday and was ready by Tuesday afternoon.

The whole time my truck was at the dealership they were driving with it as if it was their own (put over 800 miles on it) to try to get it to act up.. It did finally act up for them last week & they were able to record it and agreed the best course of action was to add the shim.

Keep us updated!

JasCJCJ · August 19, 2021

2 hours ago, latreille89 said:

Keep us updated!

I have a 2021 GMC with the 3.0. I bought a Banks i-Dash so I could monitor regens and other parameters. My truck did the no start yesterday for the first time with 3600 miles. I had driven about 30 miles and had just finished a regen 30 seconds before I parked it. I let it run a minute to cool off the egt, typically around 400*. The shut it off. Came back to the truck within 5 minutes and the no start happened. Freaked me out. But held the start button and it stopped within 10 seconds. I think has to do with heat and regens and not letting everything cool off before shut down. Unless you have an idash or listen closely to the engine sound you have no idea when it is in regen. I am meticulous with my vehicles and have checked all electrical connections and monitor all pressures and temps. That was the first time I had shut the truck off within 5 min of it completing a regen. I will update if it ever happens again.

macodi · August 19, 2021

I doubt the regen theory. First time mine happened was first week of ownership with 45 mi. I doubt it had done a regen cycle that early with very short commutes. In fact, my DEF gauge never moved off full until just over 2000 mi. But, this is my first diesel with DEF technology, so I know little about it.

DVR · August 19, 2021

We experienced another no start this past Sunday. Day before traveled 300km's. Truck was no start cold at first use Sunday morning. All other times the truck had been driven and parked for various times from 15 mins to 2 hours.

Dealer called yesterday and wants it a full day to do the multi-hour long inspection to determine if bent exciter wheel.